A LAKE District stonemasonry firm has less than a week to complete two complex war memorials to London’s fallen.

The prestigious contract will see craftsmen at Gordon Greaves Slate at Troutbeck Bridge, near Windermere, etch 20,000 letters in gold leaf on to black granite slabs.

Each letter will make up the name of a soldier who died in the two World Wars.

The company was commissioned to carry out the project by Stone Guard Facades and the memorials will replace a large-scale display piece that was stolen from Bromfield Park, near London, two years ago.

It is planned to have the memorials finished and installed before Armistice Day on November 11.

The company, which was established 22 years ago, has until Monday to complete the work, leaving time to transport the heavy-weight product to its southern home.

Managing director Gordon Greaves said two of his staff were working flat out to finish fixing 90 books of gold leaf – worth £1,000 – to the plaques by hand.

He said: “Luckily, we’ve got a machine to etch the names onto the stone.

"It takes 24 hours for every 1,000 letters, and it’s now over halfway through the task.

“This is a prestigious job and we hope that if we can impress the London firm we’re working it will push further contracts our way.

“We just have to make sure we don’t spell any names wrong.”

Six staff at Cemmick and Wylder Fine Art, based at Burton-in-Kendal, and Able memorials, Holme, have also been commissioned to create a sculpture of a soldier for Stretton, in Derbyshire, one of the few villages left in the UK without a war memorial.

Their four-metre statue was cast in bronze and called Tommy, in memory of those who fell in World War I.

The statue was made by David Cemmick, of Penrith, and stands on a limestone plinth, with 2,945 hand-cut and lead filled letters detailing those from the parish who died during service.